Hong Kong’s Catholic Church and other social welfare organizations are opposing a government plan to introduce drug testing for students. The scheme is set to be launched as a pilot program at 23 secondary schools in December, the Hong Kong Standard reports.
Privacy Commissioner Roderick Woo Bun also has said under-18s may not have the capacity to consent to tests and that the law does not allow parents or guardians to agree on their behalf.
Permanent Secretary for Education Raymond Wong Hung-chiu said yesterday the government is also concerned about privacy, which is why the Department of Justice was consulted before the government went public with its plans. And the testing will conform with the law, he insisted.
Wong is also confident there will not be lawsuits once the program begins because “we will explain to parents and students the reason for collecting the data and how they will be used. The government will put in place measures to protect personal data.”
Principals, including those from several religious schools, yesterday reconfirmed a commitment to testing. “If we chicken out now, nothing can be done,” said Buddhist Hui Yuan College principal Sung Lim-ping. “So we should take the first step.”
Confucian Ho Kwok Pui Chun College board member Elaine Lee Bik-wah said: “In secondary education, privacy is not our main concern. It will do them good if we insist on this and be strict.”
The Catholic Church, however, continues to disapprove, with vicar- general Yeung Ming-cheung describing drug testing as negative.
Education is a better alternative, he told the Standard.
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